Commissioning Phase To Commence at Li-ion Battery Recycling Plant
TM1 is pleased to announce its 48.25% owned battery recycling business, Recyclus Group Ltd ), will be initiating the commissioning phase at the UK’s first industrial-scale lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) battery recycling facility in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
Technology Minerals Plc (LSE: TM1), the first listed UK company focused on creating a sustainable circular economy for battery metals, is pleased to announce its 48.25% owned battery recycling business, Recyclus Group Ltd, will be initiating the commissioning phase at the UK’s first industrial scale lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) battery recycling facility in Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
During the commissioning phase, the plant will be operational for certain periods of time while any emissions are carefully monitored and recorded. Providing the emissions continue to be within approved levels, the number of processing hours will be extended until the facility reaches continuous operation. In the commissioning phase, the first end-of-life Li-ion batteries will be fed into the plant to produce black mass. Black mass contains critical battery metals that can be reprocessed and sold back into the battery supply chain. Recyclus anticipates the receipt of gate fees for collection and storage of Li- ion batteries, and from the sale of black mass, produced from the recycling process.
In April 2023, Recyclus secured an Environment Agency permit that allows the company a daily storage limit of 140 m3 (c.100 tonnes) of Li-ion batteries on site and to process up to 22,000 tonnes of Li-ion batteries per annum. Recyclus expects that 8,300 tonnes will be processed in the first year, utilising a single shift pattern of labour during the standard working week. Annual capacity can be increased through additional shifts, with the expectation that the plant will be able to process up to 22,000 tonnes of Li-ion batteries per annum. The aim is for Recyclus to increase its processing capability through the construction of four more Li-ion recycling plants in the UK.
In January 2023, McKinsey Battery Insights team conducted a study that projected that the entire Li-ion battery chain, from mining through recycling, could grow by over 30 percent annually from 2022 to 2030, when it would reach a value of more than $400 billion and a market size of 4.7 TWh.
Robin Brundle, Chairman of Technology Minerals, said:
We are pleased that Recyclus will shortly begin the commissioning phase at the state-of-the-art Li-ion battery recycling facility, the first of its kind and of this scale in the UK. With the ongoing global shift towards electrification, the accumulation of discarded batteries poses a significant challenge, underscoring the need for recycling initiatives such as our Wolverhampton plant. By implementing advanced recycling solutions, we are committed to addressing this burgeoning issue and contributing to the sustainable evolution of the global economy.
